With support from Russia, the Security Council approved a resolution calling for a ceasefire “without delay” to allow for humanitarian aid deliveries and medical evacuations.
At least 127 children are among the 513 dead in the bombing campaign that the regime launched last Sunday on Eastern Ghouta, just outside Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based monitor of the war said at least 35 civilians were killed in yesterday’s strikes, including eight children. A night of heavy bombardment sparked fires in residential districts, it said.
The observatory has said the air strikes are being carried out by Syrian and Russian forces.
Moscow, which intervened militarily in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2015, has denied any direct involvement in the Eastern Ghouta bombardment.
“Every minute the council waited on Russia, the human suffering grew,” the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, told the Security Council, accusing Russia of stalling.
“As they dragged out the negotiations, the bombs from Assad’s fighter jets continued to fall. In the three days it took us to adopt this resolution, how many mothers lost their kids to the bombing and the shelling?”
Crime against humanity, says Emir
His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has described the ongoing events in Eastern Ghouta in Syria as a crime against humanity, holding the international community responsible for the protection of civilians.
In a tweet yesterday, the Emir said: “Regardless of political differences, what is going on in Eastern Ghouta is a crime against humanity. The protection of civilians in this case remains the responsibility of the international community, which it cannot evade.” (QNA)
